


Baby Sitter

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-10-29 21:20:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10862319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Ydris agrees to babysit the Goldspur twins, but quickly learns that this was a very bad idea.





	Baby Sitter

Jack was surprised to hear two familiar childish voices as he rode up to the circus tent. When he turned off the main road and the wagon came into view, he saw the owners of the voices, and Dale pinned his ears back.

“Oh, great,” said Jack, seeing his boyfriend chasing around the two little Goldspur brats. Dale snorted, clearly not happy with this situation either. Fortunately, his mane was braided so it wouldn’t be easy for sticky little fingers to grab, but his tail was still long enough.

“Jack!” one of the twins called out, and ran over to him. The other copied his twin, and Jack groaned.

“Did Idun dump these on you?” asked Jack.

“It’s harvest season over in the Harvest Counties,” said Ydris. “All of the Goldspurs were busy, so I took the liberty of taking on one of your missions.”

“How?” asked Jack. “They didn’t come looking for me, did they?”

“Of course not,” said Ydris. “Do you remember when you went to shower last night and left me with your phone?”

“Yeah, you were watching Lazytown,” said Jack.

“Well, while I was doing that, you received a phonecall,” said Ydris. “I believe it was Angus. He said, and I quote, ‘We’re all busy harvesting and I don’t trust a grown manchild like my brother to look after children, so could you ask Jack to look after the kids for me? I’ll pay him well for his work’. So I agreed on your behalf.”

“Well, you’re the one who signed up for it,” said Jack. “They’re your problem now.”

“Noo! Please stay, Jack!” one twin cried.

“Yeah, please stay!” the other parroted.

“We can play hide and seek,” said one.

“And you’ll actually be able to hide because you’re not the size of a tree,” said the other.

“So pleeeease?” they begged in unison.

“It will be more fun if you’re here,” said Ydris. “And you know the children better, don’t you?”

“Yeah, Jack used to come by and play hide and seek with us every day,” said one twin.

“How does your mother tell you apart?” asked Jack.

“Sometimes she dresses us different,” said one.

“But we just swap clothes to trick her,” said the other, and they both cackled.

“Alright, I guess I should stay so they don’t gang up on you,” said Jack, dismounting Dale. 

“Yay!” the twins cheered. Jack winced. These two must be hell with a hangover.

“So, did their mother happen to give them anything they had to do while they were here?” asked Jack. “Like homework, for example?”

“No!” the twins replied, too quickly.

“They do have a little grade-school homework,” said Ydris.

“Kids get homework too early these days,” said Jack. “But you’ve gotta do it.” If nothing else, it might keep them away from him for a while.

“Aww,” the twins whined. “Why do we have to?”

“So your mum doesn’t get mad at me and Ydris,” said Jack. “Now, go.”

“But I don’t wanna,” said one twin.

“Yeah, homework’s boring,” said the other.

“Well, if you don’t want me to look after you again…” said Ydris.

“Okay, we’ll be good!” said one twin. “C’mon, Alexander, let’s do our homework so we can play with Ydris some more.”

“Wait,” said Alexander, and turned to look up at Jack.

“Whatever you’re about to ask, the answer is no,” said Jack.

“Aww, c’mon Jack,” said Hannibal. “If you help us, it’ll go twice as fast!”

“No,” said Jack. “Last time I helped a kid with their homework, she ended up getting bitten by a snake.”

“OH, COOL!” the twins yelled, their eyes big.

“No! Not cool!” said Jack. “I thought farm kids, out of anyone, would know how dangerous snakes are, but no.” Ydris was watching on with amusement.

“Tell you what,” said Ydris. “Hannibal, Alexander, if you do your homework, I will put on a marvellous magic show. Just for you.”

“Okay!” the twins cried, and ran off. Jack walked over to embrace his boyfriend.

“You’ve made a horrible mistake,” said Jack. “You know that, right?”

“Oh, they’re not so bad,” said Ydris.

“You’ve gotta keep your eye on them,” said Jack. “Or they’ll get in your wagon or tent and screw everything up.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve forbidden them from going near there,” said Ydris.

“Oh yeah?” asked Jack. “Then where are they now?”

Ydris looked around and, sure enough, there was no sign of the twins.

“Well, I can’t hear wails of pain,” said Ydris. Jack groaned.

“I’ll search the surroundings,” said Jack. “You see if they’ve gotten into your wagon or the tent.”

“My spell components,” said Ydris, and ran for his wagon. Jack climbed into the saddle again and set about looking for the twins, checking the fences first to make sure that they hadn’t somehow fallen down there. He felt better upon not finding any small bodies at the bottom of the steep incline. But that was just the most obvious danger. They could’ve fallen into a ditch, or got stuck in some brambles, or fallen off the cliff…

“Hannibal, Alexander!” Jack called as he rode off in the direction of the abandoned farm. Hopefully they hadn’t crossed the bridge. They hadn’t been out of eyesight for that long.

“Jack!” Ydris called. “I found them!”

Jack quickly rode back across to the circus tent, and had to stifle laughter at the sight of Ydris trying hard to wrangle two floating boys.

“We’re flying!” Hannibal cried while his brother giggled and spun in circles in midair. Both boys were surrounded by a halo of pink light.

“What, did they get into the fairy dust?” asked Jack, unable to contain a slight chuckle.

“Don’t be silly. It was Pandorian powder,” said Ydris. “Just a sprinkle of it can make you lighter, and these boys managed to upend the entire box! That took me weeks to grind down from the stones that I found dumped outside Golden Hills Valley!”

“So that’s what Jasper did with them,” said Jack.

“Yes. Now, can you hold these two nitwits while I grab some water?” asked Ydris.

“Where’s your wagon?” asked Jack, noticing that it was missing.

“Oh, who knows, probably in the stratosphere by now,” said Ydris. “It’ll come crashing to Earth somewhere next time it rains, though.”

“Why don’t you do a rain dance?” asked Jack. “That’s how Pi got rid of the Pandorian stones where the first rift appeared.”

“She did what? So much wasted powder!” Ydris bemoaned. “But that is a good idea. However, I don’t want to.”

“Why not?” asked Jack.

“Because I don’t want to look ridiculous in front of you,” said Ydris.

“I’ll dance with you,” said Jack. “Then we can all look ridiculous together.”

“Mr Ydris?” Hannibal suddenly asked, sounding concerned.

“Yes, what is it?” asked Ydris.

“I feel sick,” said Hannibal. “So does Alexander.”

“Well, that is a side effect of floating,” said Ydris. “Because you couldn’t follow one simple instruction.”

“We’re sorry,” said Alexander. Jack looked up at him, then frowned in concern upon seeing that the boy was upside down and his face was turning red.

“Maybe we should put them in the tent or a cage,” said Jack.

“Or tie them down somewhere,” said Ydris. “But a cage is quicker. Now, if only we had a hose to spray them with.”

“I’m sure their mother will be pleased to have them come home soaking wet,” said Jack. “But better that than with broken bones or not at all.”

“Well, I can’t dry them, because all my towels are in my wagon,” said Ydris. “So someone will have to go down and borrow some towels from Moorland. Or go into Silverglade Village and ask for some. Or over to the inn.”

“Can’t you get us down first?” asked Hannibal. “Please?” He was looking a touch green.

“Alright,” said Ydris. He took both boys over to one of the large animal cages, then quickly closed the door after making sure that the boys wouldn’t be able to drift out through the bars. Then, he turned to his boyfriend. “Well, Jack, time to dance.”

“Time to make a fool of ourselves, you mean,” said Jack. But he dismounted Dale and began to dance while Dale lifted his hooves and swayed his head and body to join the dance. Jack looked over at Ydris as he danced, laughing at how ridiculous he looked.

“The rain dance isn’t as elegant as you might think,” said Ydris, moving his body in the most ridiculous ways. Jack was pretty sure that he was incorporating some disco moves from the 80s. But, just as it had with Pi, the sky quickly darkened and, with a crack of thunder and flash of lightning, water poured down from the sky. The first thing that happened was that Alexander thudded to the bottom of the cage, the glow disappearing, and promptly vomited. His brother quickly landed in it, whining about both that and his bleeding nose.

“I feel sick,” Hannibal complained, and Jack winced and turned away at the sound of retching and complaining.

“You know what, we might need a hose after all,” said Ydris. “I’m going to need to hose that cage out.”

“Want me to take the twins over to the inn?” asked Jack. “They definitely need to be cleaned and to change into clean clothes.”

“That might be a good i- Jack, watch out!”

“Huh?” Jack looked up in time to see the wagon plummeting toward him, and cringed, knowing that it was too late to dive out of the way. Seconds passed, and nothing happened. Then, Jack heard a crashing noise and opened his eyes to see Ydris in front of him.

“Are you okay?” asked Ydris. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

“No, I’m fine,” said Jack. “You saved my life. But your wagon…” He looked over at where it was now, broken and resting at the base of a tree. One of the wheels was still attached but at an awkward angle, and the sides were all splintered. Various potions and potion ingredients were scattered about, bottles smashed and random liquids dripping onto the ground.

“Wagons and potion ingredients can be replaced,” said Ydris. “But you can’t, Jack.”

Jack tried to find the right words to say, but he couldn’t. He just hugged his boyfriend, trembling at just how close he’d come to death.

“Let us out!” one of the twins wailed, destroying the moment. Jack frowned.

“Do we have to?” asked Jack, speaking so only Ydris could hear.

“Hmm, we probably should,” said Ydris. “I’ll take them over there. You wait inside the tent.”

“No, I can go with you,” said Jack, moving to stand up (he didn’t remember falling to the ground in terror). But his legs shook and then buckled underneath him. Ydris caught him.

“Rest,” said Ydris. “I’ll get the twins cleaned up and into clean clothes, and then come back.”

“Okay,” said Jack. Dale was standing beside him, so Jack held onto his neck and slowly stood. With Dale’s aid, Jack managed to get inside the tent, and then sat on the sand at the bottom of the centre post. He was still trembling. To his shame, he realised that he was crying.

Jack was still there when Ydris came back, curled in a foetal position at the bottom of the pole and crying like a damn baby. Dale was standing in front of him, but he moved aside when Ydris arrived.

“It’s okay,” said Ydris, bringing Jack into his arms. “The twins are in here doing their homework. I’ve got my eyes on them, so there won’t be any more monkey business. And who knows, they might have learned their lesson after what just happened.”

“Fat chance,” Jack mumbled. He felt better in his boyfriend’s arms. Slowly, his anger was being directed not at himself but towards those damn twins. He’d expected them to cause trouble, but not this much.

“What have we learned?” asked Ydris, raising his voice so that the twins could hear him.

“To not play with magician toys,” said one twin.

“And to stay put,” said the other. 

“And that I’m never looking after those brats again,” Ydris muttered. Jack laughed, glad that his boyfriend had learnt that lesson. Even if it did have to be the hard way.


End file.
